... (Besides on a cheeky note, they need more if our pay rise goes through)
Conclusion
I don't personally in my own opinion think that Travel West Midlands and there surrounding transport companies are doing as bad of a job as people make out. They are providing a service that 1000s upon ... Read review
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1-5 of 6 reviews of Travel West Midlands (Coventry)
Travel Coventry aint too bad...
Advantages: Always get there, get there for a good price. Disadvantages: not yet 100% reliable on times, but not there fault.
As an employee for travel west midlands and working at travel Coventry, I will be telling my thoughts feelings and experiences.
Cleanliness
I have read the other reviews on the subject and I would agree with all of them. The busses do smell from time to time and are often untidy. The fact of the matter in the cleanliness concern is due to the passengers just as much as the staff. How many passengers get on and leave ... ...my own opinion think that Travel West Midlands and there surrounding transport companies are doing as bad of a job as people make out. They are providing a service that 1000s upon 1000s of people need and use regardless of weather they like it or not and I think they are doing well. Ok so things can be improved, but they are trying. My last comment to anybody who doubts them is: why don't you try and cater for the needs and desires of over 200 thousand ... more
As an employee for travel west midlands and working at travel Coventry, I will be telling my thoughts feelings and experiences.
Cleanliness
I have read the other reviews on the subject and I would agree with all of them. The busses do smell from time to time and are often untidy. The fact of the matter in the cleanliness concern is due to the passengers just as much as the staff. How many passengers get on and leave all of there food wrappings and drinks bottles on there seats instead of taking them with them, saying which there shouldn't be food or drink consumed on board any way. Also the free newspapers are just left lying around, and tickets are not thrown in provided bins.
As a driver I personally don't have to and hate to pick up rubbish that ignorant passengers have left behind although I do anyway, this is also a reason for mess. If a passenger boards towards the end of the day, then there would be a build up of any rubbish throughout the day still there, due to the fact that the busses can only be cleaned at night when out of service.
Timings
The single most annoying thing about my job is being late! I cannot stand being late. But when there is heavy traffic or an RTA ( Road Traffic Accident) or any other sort of unforeseeable delay there is NOTHING we can do about it. We can only sit in the traffic and wait and we can only stick to one rout at a time. People don't seem to understand that when they board a bus that is running late, when they tell the driver we are late it only holds us up even more because we have to explain why to 30 + people along the way.
As far as the bus timetables work, each driver is given what is called a running bored so he/she knows where to be and when on that individual bus for the time they are on, we don't know the exact time for every stop on every service for every day of the week. We are only late according to your timetables due to the above mentioned.
Drivers
As a new driver and a not so long ago passenger on the bus I see both sides of the story. When a passenger boards a bus expecting a lovely smile and a great big hello, please don't! we see up to 1000 passengers a day, and believe me when you have been at work driving in stressful situations for a few hours and you have seen up to 200 people already and said the same thing to all of them, the last thing you want to do is smile and say hello, especially when running late. Its usually a case of get on get where you want to go and get off. I know that sounds really nasty and it is, but it is only human nature to get fed up. Just imagine going round in circles and being paid peanuts to do it!
As somebody in another review put, if we are going to moan about being paid peanuts and being treated badly then that's what the union is for . Our union is trying to negotiate a pay deal at the moment and from my knowledge the starting rate for a bus driver, somebody with the responsibility of up to 90 lives on a full double Decker is going to go up to £7.10 an hour! That is still a pretty pathetic wage for the responsibility involved. And as far as being treated badly I don't know where that has come from because I have had nothing but friendliness and help in my 5 months there.
Busses
As you all have realised by now, some of the busses are starting to become a little dated but some are really new. Not many people know this but a new double Decker bus costs the company around about £180K, and the bend-bus £250K. Im not sure how correct my figures are but I will try and find out, but it takes the company around 10 years of a new bus being in service on the road everyday just to make there money back on the cost of the bus, then after that is when they start to make profit.
Prices
OOOhh my god! How many complaints need to be made? The bus fairs went up, as most people know back in January 2nd 2006. People they went from £1.00 max fair to £1.10, a £0.75 short hop, to £0.80 . its not like its just jumped by an extra £10 or something. It is still a good deal for a journey more than 2-5 miles, if you ran a car that distance you are probably looking at around £2, or a taxi £5, its still cheaper than any other transport. (Besides on a cheeky note, they need more if our pay rise goes through)
Conclusion
I don't personally in my own opinion think that Travel West Midlands and there surrounding transport companies are doing as bad of a job as people make out. They are providing a service that 1000s upon 1000s of people need and use regardless of weather they like it or not and I think they are doing well. Ok so things can be improved, but they are trying. My last comment to anybody who doubts them is: why don't you try and cater for the needs and desires of over 200 thousand people on a day-to-day basis.
Thank you all for any r/r/c, if anybody has any questions please ask me in my guest book and if any body currently holding a PCV licence is looking for work then defiantly contact me as I would get £200 upon your completion of interviews and once a job has been given!
Advantages: See opinion Disadvantages: See opinion
...centre of Coventry.I use the travel west midlands buses most days.
The cleanliness of the Coventry Travel busses are always appaling.There is never no evidence of a cleaner nor are the buses are tidy. The short journey buses are always dirty and messy with litter every where and often smell.The upstairs of the double decker buses are the worst by far as mainly the elderley sit down stairs.The seats are always dirty and the floors full of spit and ... ...The fare costs of the travel west midlands buses are very cheap for children and adults with a range of passes and weekly passes and also a very cheap way of travelling all day with no limits is their ''Day Saver''.
The Travel West Midlands Daysaver can be bought on the bus for a couple of quid exact bus costs are as followed:
Short Hop (adult) £0.60p Daysaver which can be used on Any buses anytime in Cov. Maximum fare (adult) £0.80p £2.00
Short ...
wilsam00 24.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Travel West Midlands (Coventry)
Advantages: none Disadvantages: too many to mention
...I've been on the ICBirmingham Travel MoanZone website where commuters can sound off about these problems but the drivers seem to misunderstand that it is for commuters and use it to moan about how they are paid peanuts and treated badly - isn't that where they union is for. Also if you behave like an uneducated cretin in your work then you deserve a pittance - I don't know how much of the wage thing is true as only recently the fares went up from ... ...this extra 10p? An even worse service - by this logic if they reduce fares to around 50p we could have the best public transport system in Europe.
I could go on but I would just get angrier and ruin my own day as TWM sicken me that much - the fact that I have no choice but to use their backward service sickens me even more. ...
tilly77 06.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Travel West Midlands (Coventry)
Advantages: Good website, new buses being seen Disadvantages: Poor service, dirty buses and having to use correct change
...on the air as I travel to work, or the floor is just sticky and covered in litter. Some of the buses are far too old also, and I have on occasion felt unsafe whilst travelling.
TWM also never seem to stick to a timetable. Buses come when they feel, usually two or three at a time. Which all in all makes for some cold and wet waits and the bus stop, which doesnt even have a shelter.
Another problem TWM have had is the necessity to have the "correct ... ...£1 or £2 for a 70p fair.
Now i feel I shold balance this opinion up slightly. A few good points I find are that the bus passes are cheep, only £28.25 a month at the moment and they are easy to renew in various shops and post offices.
Also their website has a good route and journey planner facility and there are online timetables that you can check before you leave for your journey. To finish all I can say is that I use these buses twice a day at ...
the_vchip 09.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Travel West Midlands (Coventry)
Advantages: Reliable, Cheap, Frequent Disadvantages: Ignorant Drivers, No Change Given, Not informed when there are problems with the service
My Grandad actually drives for this company and he is really friendly and helpful. However, in my own experience, unfortunately, this cannot be said for the majority of the other drivers. On getting off the bus I try to be as polite as possible, thanking the driver and making general conversation only to find no response... at all. I really hate it when people ignore me and when you are paying for someone's wages i think they could at least acknowlege ... ...are often filthy but I believe this is because a bus only goes to the garage to be cleaned and washed at the end of each day meaning that any rubbish left on the bus during the day will more than likely stay there until the end of the day. One other thing I must mention is school kids!! Those of you who have to catch a bus on its school run will know exactly what i'm talking about. We do not appreciate those monkeys throwing paper, rubbish, food ...
bubble4 24.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Travel West Midlands (Coventry)
Advantages: They only run buses in the West Midlands, not anywhere else in the country Disadvantages: Exact fare, unfriendly drivers, very poor reliability, often don't turn up...
TWM really need to sort this out. The no 12 runs between Coventry City Centre and the University of Warwick. The buses regurally run full so start going straight past bus stops leaving people to try and get the next one. Even when you do get on, the drivers are normally unfriendly (it's also exact fare only) and drive round roundabouts like they're maniacs. That's when they actually turn up. Some newer nicer buses would be good as well...
They have ...
andrewbolton 05.12.2000 (06.12.2000)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Travel West Midlands (Coventry)
New fleets for new routes, and the majourity of the older buses repainted if not completely refurbished both inside and out., Lots of new training bus
High fares for all services (although I hope these are only to cover short term losses and will be reconcidered when all services are stable). No chan (*)
